Rising Heroin Use Reflected In Rehab Center Admissions

August 28, 1999|By JANE E. DEE; Courant Staff Writer

Lower-priced heroin, savvy drug dealers and misinformation about the dangers of smoking and snorting heroin have resulted in more people seeking treatment for heroin addiction in centers across New England.

Heroin use is increasing across the country, as well. Nationally, the number of people checking themselves into treatment centers for abuse of heroin and other opiates has surpassed those seeking help with cocaine addiction for the first time since 1992, a government agency reported this week.

Heroin admission rates were highest in the West and Northeast, according to the annual report of treatment trends by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The report, which includes data from about two-thirds of the nation's drug and alcohol admissions, tracked trends from 1992 to 1997. The survey includes only those programs that receive some HHS or state funding.

Among the report's findings: While most people seeking treatment for heroin addiction are injecting the drug, the number of users snorting heroin is growing, and they tend to be younger.

``There are misconceptions in the drug community as to what is safer,'' said Robert Fox, a psychiatrist at Elmcrest psychiatric hospital in Portland. ``A more middle-class person might say, `I can just sniff heroin and I'll be OK. I'm not a junkie because I'm not injecting,' '' Fox said.

Other experts agree.

``I have heard patients saying, `I want to avoid crack because it's too dangerous,' '' said Frederick Engstrom, senior vice president of medical affairs at Brattleboro Retreat, a psychiatric and substance abuse health care facilityin Vermont that serves patients from across New England.

Heroin is more physically addicting than crack cocaine. Users quickly discover an overwhelming desire to use the drug every day, experts said. According to the government report, daily heroin use was reported by 83 percent of heroin admissions.

Even people as young as high school students are getting hooked, the experts said.

According to the government report, admissions show that the people who inhale heroin tend to be younger than those who inject it.

``We're not admitting high school students, but we're aware that heroin use among high school students is increasing,'' said Richard McKeown, director of detox rehab and methadone at Providence Hospital in Holyoke, Mass.

Heroin use by 12th-graders increased 100 percent between 1990-97, he said.

``It's definitely become fashionable among young people who think of themselves as being creative. It's become part of the teenage culture.''

Lower street prices and greater drug purity are other reasons people of all ages are getting hooked, said health care providers who work with addicts.

Blame it on market-savvy dealers who were eager to recapture the drug market that was dominated by crack cocaine in the 1980s and early 1990s, said McKeown.

``Crack cocaine turns out to be quite expensive if you're doing 10 to 20 vials a day at $10 a vial,'' McKeown said. ``Heroin dealers started to reduce their price and increase heroin's quality so people can afford several bags and have a high that lasts longer.''

Between 1993 and 1997, the number of heroin users increased from one-tenth of 1 percent of the population to two-tenths of 1 percent, McKeown said. An estimated 350,000 people nationwide are addicted to heroin, he said.

A strong economy, too, likely has contributed to the increased rate of heroin treatment admissions.

``People have the money to use recreational drugs,'' Fox said. ``And heroin is available and easy to get.''

But while heroin treatment is increasing, experts caution that alcohol abuse is the most common reason people are admitted to treatment centers.

Alcohol accounted for about half of all admissions in 1997, according to the government report. And 44 percent of those admitted reported secondary drug use as well.

``The country is so obsessed with drugs, they tend to ignore that alcohol is and will continue to be our biggest problem,'' said Engstrom, of Brattleboro Retreat.

``Alcohol is often the beginning of drug use,'' Engstrom said. ``You don't see people going from non-use to drugs. They start with alcohol.''